A host, an army — massed ranks for war (Numbers 1:3, 'all who go out to the tsava'). The census is a military muster: everyone counted is a soldier. The same word makes the divine title 'Jehovah of HOSTS' (the armies of heaven), and names the 'host of heaven' — sun, moon, and stars arrayed like troops. For the Levites the tsava is redefined: their 'service/warfare' is the tabernacle, not the battlefield (Numbers 4:23). → first discussed at Num 1:3